West Haverstraw blast hearing to continue

Cortlandt contractor trying to withdraw from plea deal

10:10 PM,
Jun. 17, 2013

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A Rockland County judge resumed a hearing Monday to consider whether to allow a Cortlandt contractor to withdraw from a plea deal in a natural-gas explosion that damaged several homes last year.

After negotiations between his lawyer and prosecutors, Fidel Padilla of Cortlandt pleaded guilty in May 2012 to first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, in connection with the Jan. 16, 2012, blast that leveled a townhouse at 52 Zarriello Lane and severely damaged several others in the Village Fairgrounds II complex in West Haverstraw.